Pages

3.18.2010

How to use Duck Eggs - Recipes and Ideas

I found a local source of eggs in Valparaiso, Indiana. It's an on your honor type deal. So I stopped by after work and found all that was left was a half dozen duck eggs with $2.50 written on the side. So I figured let's try duck eggs.

They are huge. Above is a picture of a chicken egg next to one of the duck eggs. I put up a plea on FaceBook asking for suggestions on what to do my new acquisition. A friend suggested this link from The New Agrarian.There is information on cooking, frying and baking with duck eggs.

According to this source duck eggs have more fat in the yolk and more protein in the white than chicken eggs and thus need a gentler touch and lower heat than chicken eggs. As for baking, the extra fat makes baked goods richer while the extra protein makes for more fluff and thus lighter texture. That seems good to me. I'll have to make some muffins or bread to test this claim. I also hear they are really good in custards and ice-creams. I tried making chocolate chip cookies with a duck egg and they were amazing. Here's the recipe: The Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies.

As for nutrition, how do duck and chicken eggs compare? The average duck egg has 130 calories, 9.5 grams of fat and 9 grams of protein. An extra large jumbo chicken egg (which is about the same size as a duck egg) has 90 calories, 6 grams of fat and 8 grams of protein. If you want to compare more eggs check out this link that compares the nutrition of many eggs including: duck, chicken, goose, quail and turkey.

Tonight Jeff is making Old Country Pie (basically a vegetarian shepard's pie) from The Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen. He used one duck egg in place of the two chicken eggs. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow. Here's a picture of the pie before it went in the oven:

I used duck eggs this morning to make waffles. I love duck eggs, and believe I'm going to find something great to do with them... but the waffles came out horribly. Wilty, oily, soft. Maybe I should have cut the oil in the ingredients??? Any thoughts

I'm not sure that duck eggs would contribute to limp waffles, the more oil in waffles the crispier they tend to be. Does your recipe normally turn out? Waffles are tricky in that you need to get the heat just right and if you are doing it over the stove that can take some trial and error to learn. I'm told the Cook's Illustrated Cookbook has an excellent waffle recipe. Use one duck egg for every two chicken eggs.

Article on how to get good waffles: http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/article.asp?docid=23755Recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/COOKS-ILLUSTRATED-BUTTERMILK-WAFFLES-50078698